A Matter of Timing
by Sweet Charity
Summary: Senior year. For Rory that means sorting out problems with Dean and Jess, writing on the school paper, being student body vice president, and babysitting her explosive teenage cousin Lizzie. It doesn't help when Tristan comes home.
1. Enter.. Um.. Yeah

   Rory and Lorelei stomped up the stairs, ignoring the additional cars in the driveway. "This is going to be like World War Four."

  Rory nodded. "Two stuffy old rich people and their ancestors."

  Lorelei smiled. "You are more and more like me, aren't you?"

  Rory grinned. "We forgot mystery guests number one, two, three, and four."

  "You kissed Jess?"

  Rory groaned. "Can't you get off the subject for once?"

  "Nah." Lorelei smirked, but Rory's coy grin threw her off.

  "How are you and dad?" Rory asked innocently. 

  "Truce?"

  "Agreed."

  "LORELEI!!!!!!!!" Emily shrieked from inside. "ACT LIKE YOU'RE MY DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!"

  Lorelei raised her eyebrows innocently and opened the door. 

  "Duck." Richard bellowed casually, and the two Gilmore girls followed his command, to have a china vase thrown at the doorway and break onto the ground. A new maid, French presumably, came instantly and swept it up.

  "That was VERY expensive, Ariel. Ugly and tasteless but nonetheless expensive." Lorelei the First commented, drinking her martini as if it were oxygen.

  "You save it." Emily snapped and the three women, Emily, Lorelei the First and some other blue-haired woman, went screaming into Richard's study.

  "Wow." A girl, probably a year or so younger than Rory, stepped out of the shadows and sipped her own martini. It was probably a virgin, though. She leaned on the doorway to the den and her eyes lingered off somewhere.

  "I've seen fights, but never an expensive vase at a dinner party." Lorelei commented. "I would love to see the cause of this little catfight."

  "Nice to meet you, Lizzie Larabee. I presume you are Lorelei." Lizzie offered her hand casually and stood up properly. 

  "Which one?" Rory asked, wide-eyed but a coy grin on her face. Lizzie leaned back, letting her free hand drop to her side.

  "You must be Rory. By the stories, your mother is rubbing off on you." Lizzie looked around. "Five, four, three, two.."

  "LORELEI!!"

  Lizzie shrugged and stood up properly once more. "I'll be upstairs."

  "You're a genius." Rory commented as her mother rolled her eyes and headed for the study.

  "I'm used to it." She replied. "And the doorbell in seven, six, five, four, three, two.."

  The doorbell rang and Lizzie grabbed Rory's hand and ran upstairs.

  "Trust me, you don't want to know who that is." Lizzie muttered as Rory opened her mouth to speak.

  "Have you met her?" Lorelei the First asked instantly and Lorelei nodded numbly. "What do you think?"

  "Can I have fries with that?" Lorelei suggested.

  Emily groaned. "I should have known she wouldn't take it seriously."

  Lorelei blinked. "Hello? I met her two minutes ago, sipping a hopefully virgin martini and trying to be polite. She's upstairs with Rory right now."

  "MARY ELIZABETHA CORDELIA LARABEE! YOU BETTER HAVE NO ALCOHOL IN THAT DRINK!" The other blue-haired lady shouted through the thick door.

  "That's Ariel, your Great-Aunt.  She's Mary Elizabetha's grandmamma." Lorelei the First explained off-handedly. "Very stubborn woman if you ask me."

  "Why don't you take care of her then? You'd be just as stubborn if YOUR baby daughter gave birth to _that_ creature." Great Aunt Ariel snapped.

  Lorelei stood there, confused, as Lorelei the First started shouting at Great Aunt Ariel for being a horrible mother in the first place, and Emily was shouting something along the lines of, 'Takes one to know one' and things continued to be thrown.

  "Ah, Janlen! So glad you could come." Richard boomed, and the grand-looking senior smiled. 

  "This is my grandson, Tristan, and his school friend, Paris. When her parents flew out of town, Tristan offered to take her." Janlen replied. "I take it the girls are upstairs?"

  "Yes. Paris, Tristan, go upstairs and my girls will be sure to entertain you. Especially that younger one. What a fireball, Janlen." Richard chuckled as the two teenagers left the den. "I hear you're moving."

  "Yes, indeed, Richard. You told me how charming this Stars Hollow place was and Tristan will need that. His parents have just given up on the boy. I told them not to send him out of the state, but do those little kids listen to me? Of course not. That's why when they threatened to send him to Europe, I stepped in."

  "Naturally. Tristan will have plenty of fellow rebels, I hear. Lorelei kept babbling something about this diner man's nephew being shipped back and forth from New York.. Now, down to some shop talk.."

  "Interesting.." Lizzie trailed off. "I need to pack. I'm in the room down the hall, so call when Grandmamma screams bloody murder."

  Rory nodded numbly and turned around to see Paris, a guest she had invited herself, who wasn't looking happy. 

  "Headmaster Charleston is insane." Paris snapped, grabbing Rory by the wrist and pulling her into the bedroom she had just left.

  "I'll just follow the other girl, then." Tristan murmured, but no one heard him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and swaggered along the path the other girl had taken.

  He leaned on the doorway of the girl's room, most likely a guest room, and she was packing furiously.

  She was kind of pretty, he supposed. Her eyes were a nice, warm brown color, and her hair, a shining black-brown mass that was elegantly tapered an inch past her shoulders, glittered with natural strawberry-blonde, honey-blonde and maroon highlights, at least as natural as he could tell. She was sort of small, about five foot five to his six feet, but of course, he had no idea how old she was. She didn't have a tan, but she wasn't as pale as Rory was. 

  "Hey." He whispered as she began to put away a music box. She nearly dropped it in surprise.

  "Push-up Boy?" She demanded softly.

  Tristan's features darkened and she rolled her eyes.

  "I went to St. Bernadette's, the all-girls' school next door to the military academy?" She explained, and as his features lit up with surprise, she went back to packing. "You do quite a few of those push-ups."

  Tristan grinned. "What got you here?"

  She looked up from stuffing a dress in her suitcase. "Got busted trying to get my friend Cherie and a few of her soldier boys out of a bar. Their parents were on the boards of trustees, mine weren't, and I'm here."

  Tristan let out a long whistle. "Man, that's harsh."

  She shrugged. "Not nearly as harsh as being actually punished. I mean, if they weren't part of my alibi, I'd probably be in Timbuktu."

  Tristan chuckled and the bell for dinner rang. The girl zipped up her suitcase and placed her hand in the crook of Tristan's bent arm.

  "Shall we?" 

  Rory and Paris waited in front of Lizzie's guest room impatiently. The bell had rung ten minutes before and Lizzie still wasn't out yet and they had no idea where Tristan was.

  "Who invited him, anyways?" Rory asked as she impatiently tapped her foot. "Furthermore, who let him out of military school? You should have seen my face when I saw him back, he _belongs_ in an institute like that!"

  "I think your father had the impression that the two of you were friends." Paris replied shortly. "Now about Charleston.."

  "RORY!? PARIS!? ARE YOU UP THERE? DINNER'S STARTING!" Emily screeched and the two girls were so startled they rushed down the stairs.

  Rory found herself sitting between Tristan and Lizzie, and across from her mother.

  "This is Rory's Great-Great Aunt Ariel and her great-grandmother Lorelei." Emily introduced, acknowledging the blue-haired ladies diagonally to her right and diagonally to her left. "Beside Ariel is Tristan DuGrey, a schoolmate of Rory's, then there's Rory herself, then Mary Elizabetha, Lorelei's second cousin, and diagonally to her left is my husband Richard, and diagonally to his right is Paris Gellar, another schoolmate of Rory's, then her own mother, Lorelei the Second, then Janlen DuGrey, Tristan's grandfather and a former business associate of Richard's, and then back to Great-Great Aunt Ariel."

  "I hate that name." Lizzie whispered so that only Tristan and Rory could hear. "It makes me sound like a harlequin romance character."

  They muffled their laughter in a last spoonful of soup.

  "Exactly what relation do you have to the Gilmores, Mary Elizabetha?" Janlen asked as their soups were taken away for salads.

  Lizzie grimaced. "My friends call me Lizzie, Mr. DuGrey, and you can, too." Janlen raised his eyebrows in amusement. "You see, my grandmamma, Ariel, is Cousin Richard's aunt, and my mother is his cousin. So I am Lorelei's second cousin and Rory's third."

  "Well, now that that's settled, let's get down to business. I have called you here for a particular reason." Emily began, and Lorelei mouthed to Rory, 'To torture us all in mass murder. Call Jess for the white chalk and police tape.'

  Rory flushed and turned her attention to Emily.

  "Mary Elizabetha here,"

  _"Lizzie."_

  "Has gotten in a bit of trouble.."

  _"Has gotten other people out of a bit of trouble.."_

  "By being caught in a bar near her North Carolina boarding school.."

  _"By being caught in a bar trying to rescue some of the richest kids on the East Coast.."_

  "And is going to attend Chilton and live in Stars Hollow."

  Lorelei, Rory, Paris and Lizzie's mouths dropped open.

  "What?" Paris demanded shortly, her eyes narrowing.

  "What?" Rory asked softly in surprise.

  "What??!" Lorelei demanded, her face full of unpleasant shock.

  "WHAT??!!?!?!" Lizzie shrieked. "No one tells me anything! First, I'm shipped off to North Carolina because my mother can't handle me, though she battled to get custody of me! Then, trying to rescue Cherie Stanford and her man whores, I get caught and pulled out for some unknown reason- they weren't going to punish me. After sitting upstairs at Grandmamma's, listening to the battles, I'm told to pack my most prized possessions and stuck on a red-eyed flight to Hartford with my snoring Grandmamma and now I'm moving to Nowhere Ville, USA?"

  "Nice ramble." Paris complimented.

  "I give it three thumbs up!" Lorelei added perkily.

  "Could have used a little more substance, in my opinion." Tristan commented. "Besides, you aren't the only one. I wasn't even there that night and my parents pull me out and stick me in Stars Hollow with my grandfather."

  He eyed Janlen guiltily. "Not that I mind."

  Lizzie yawned. "I need some sleep."

  Lorelei motioned for Rory to leave, and Janlen did the same for Tristan and Paris.

  "Now, Lorelei, here's the deal.."

  "Nobody tells me anything." Lizzie grumbled, and Tristan grabbed her suitcases, helping her take them down the stairs. "I mean, it's not like I'm a bad kid. I'm just not a good one.."

  "How old are you, Mary?" Tristan asked in the most non-teasing voice he could come up with.

  "Lizzie." She snapped. "Fifteen going on sixteen. Cue the Sound of Music intro, please."

  "It's sixteen going on seventeen." Tristan corrected. She looked at him with a knowing smirk, and he added quickly, "Not that I would know, of course. So you'll be a sophomore?"

  Lizzie nodded, leaning on the staircase for support. "Family dramas always make me sleepy."

  Tristan nodded. "They have the opposite affect on me. Normally I'm overactive."

  Lizzie grinned. "Why didn't I figure that?"

  Tristan cocked one of his eyebrows up, leaning on the same staircase. "Maybe you should be Mary Magdalene.. You're a real tease."

  Lizzie's Cheshire cat grin, oddly seductive, grew even wider. "You haven't seen anything yet, Mister DuGrey."

  Tristan's smirk, which most girls like Lizzie found unattractive, was confident. "Do I really want to?"

  Lizzie blushed a bit. "I'm not exactly sure."

  "What a thing to pop on you _senior year_. On top of your father's new kid, and your relationship with Dean, they have to shove this little hoodlum on you." Paris began rambling. Rory interrupted her before she could go any further. They were at the first landing of the stairs and began walking down.

  "Actually, I'd like a nice distraction, besides the student council stuff, to get me through the day. I can avoid Dean and Jess and my father's phone calls. But the latter is my mother's job." Rory quipped. "She seems like a nice kid."

  Paris froze on the second landing. "Nice enough to grab Tristan's attention."

  Rory rolled her eyes. "Anything that wears a skirt grabs Tristan's attention."

  Paris raised her eyebrows as Lizzie propped herself up by her elbows and promptly fell down due to a lack of balance.

  Tristan was laughing so hard, his well-chiseled abs hurt.

  Lizzie grinned, embarrassed. "Hey, Paris. Rory."

  "Lizzie, do you like coffee?" Rory found herself asking. Lizzie's embarrassed face lit up.

  "Like it? It's my oxygen!" 

  "Definitely a Gilmore girl." Rory murmured softly, a sweet smile on her face.

    "I just don't like the idea of these Hartford people moving in. It's them in their luxury SUVs taking over the place." Taylor was muttering. "First that DuGrey person and then his grandkid, and then Lorelei's got a bad girl cousin who needs to live with her. It was bad enough with my bag boy, and then Jess, and now two more."

  "Gee, thanks, Taylor." Jess drawled as he poured some more coffee for the rambling man.

  "I think I'm going to puke." Someone muttered and Jess looked up, his jaw dropping.

  "Lizzie?" He asked wearily, and the green look on her face dissolved and turned into a glare.

  "What did you do, Jess?" Lizzie demanded, going to sit at a stool.

  Jess raised his eyebrows innocently, putting down the coffee pot and putting his arms up, all three gestures in a surrendering manner. "The first time it was just annoying my mom, but I asked to be here. What about you, Lizzie Larabee?"

  Lizzie grumbled under her breath, but then said loudly, "Make that three."

  Jess got out three coffee cups. "You have two other people who drink coffee like it's their air, and.."

  "Here they come." Lizzie chirped. "My cousins."

  Jess's eyes widened, and his James Dean demeanor was broken when he blushed.

  Lizzie grinned and slapped the seats on either side of her. "Here."

  Rory grumbled a thank you and took a long sip of coffee. When she opened her eyes, they widened at the sight of Jess.

 "Hey, Rory." He whispered softly, refilling the cup in her hands.

  "Hey." Rory murmured in reply.

  Lorelei grinned widely, and it didn't take Lizzie that long to figure out.

  "CAESAR!" Lorelei shouted. "My god, my Adonis, the reason why I live.. The reason why.."

  "He's not here is because it's his day off." Luke finished, and Lorelei shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "What do you need?"

  Lorelei's cheeks flushed and she began stammering.

  "Oh, Uncle Luke, this is Lizzie, Rory and Lorelei's cousin and she used to live up in New York. We hung out at the same music stores." Jess introduced her and went back to Rory and Luke slapped him on the back.

  "Taylor needs a refill." 

  Rory's eyes followed Jess and when she turned back to face her family and Luke, she giggled.

  "Hot damn, we're going to be late, Ror." Lizzie muttered, grabbing a donut. "I'll pay for it later!" She shouted as she was running out the door, Rory close behind her.

  "No problem!" Lorelei shouted after her. "Nice kid."

  Luke stood there impatiently. "What do you need, Lorelei?"

  "Um.. Pancake special."

  "That's for Wednesdays. It's Monday." Luke explained.

  "Fine then, the eggs special."

  "Tuesdays."

  "The toast special?"

  "Thursdays."

  "What about the waffle special?"

  "Fridays."

  "Damn it, Luke! I've apologized! I like your nephew! I like him a lot! He might even have mutual feelings in that whole area!" Lorelei shouted, throwing her menu down. She grabbed her purse and threw a five at him. "I'm going to the inn."

  "Oh, God, I'm about to feel that donut." Lizzie muttered as they got off the bus in front of Chilton.

  Rory, though not a huge fan of Lizzie's, placed a hand gently on Lizzie's shoulder. "After you get over the ivy, uniforms and gargoyles, it's another school with high academic standards."

  Lizzie looked back at her skeptically. "Was that supposed to help?"

  Rory shot her a reassuring look. "Yes, yes, it was. We handled your admissions stuff yesterday and now.."

  Paris rushed up. "Come _on_, Rory."

  Rory was being dragged away, but she shouted over her shoulder. "Who's my favorite coffee bean?"

  "I am." Lizzie grumbled, bringing the strap of her messenger bag back onto her shoulder and walking through the front double doors, thanking the little freshman boy who opened it for her.

  She found her locker quite easily and as she was arranging her things, she heard a soft, familiar male voice.

  "Who's my favorite coffee bean?"

  The locker door blocked his face and Lizzie promptly closed it. He was leaning on the lockers casually, grinning.

  "Tristan?" She asked wearily, a smile growing on her face.

  He stood up properly, offering his arm. "Now, I can't be my own favorite coffee bean, so you can take the job."

  Lizzie got three books and her schoolbag, and then slipped her arm through his. "I feel sooo honored."

  "Well, it's a high position, you see.. Many girls were fighting, doing whatever, and I mean _whatever_ they could to get the job." Tristan replied. "Now, coffee bean, who are you sitting with at lunch?"

  "Well, I.." Lizzie began, but Rory and Paris passed them quickly.

  "I'm sorry, Lizzie! I have to work on the Franklin during lunch!" Rory shouted.

  "I guess you're free, then." Tristan said as she stopped in front of her English class.

  "I guess so." Lizzie replied. "You better get to class, the bell's going to ring in five, four, three, two.."

  "What was _that_ all about?" Rory muttered as she and Paris made it to History.

  "Are you _jealous_, Rory?" Paris demanded softly. "Of clumsy Lizzie?"

  Rory shot Paris a glare before the bell rang. "She didn't come here to get into more trouble, she came here to stay out of it. I'm just watching out for her, that's all."

  Paris rolled her eyes as Tristan came in. "Riiiight."


	2. Beans, Beans, and More Beans

  Lizzie looked through her book bag and stomped her foot in frustration. "Damn it!"

  She looked around. "Damn Tristan for distracting me and damn my locker for being across school."

  As she was running across school, the space between her eyebrows wrinkled. "He's not even that cute, anyways."

  She got to her locker and nearly screamed at the thing in the half-empty hall. It refused to open. She banged on it desperately, her wavy dark hair swinging needlessly.

  When the lock finally popped, she grabbed her notebook and found herself lost in a hallway she had never seen before. There were two ways to go. To the right would take her back to her locker, the possibly longest way to get to history class. To the left might be a shortcut.

  Lizzie grinned. Naturally, she would take the shortcut. She remembered that Tristan had said there was a way to get across the building by cutting through the gym. Those double doors with fading paint had to lead to the gym.

  She pushed one of them open and her eyes widened. They really should mark the boys' locker rooms in a more clear fashion. Guys were desperately trying to wrap themselves in towels.

  She was standing there, frozen, and hoping to God no one she knew was there. 

  "Hey, isn't that the new girl?"

  "Looks like quite a Mary."

  "Tristan said she was more of a Magdalene.. But just a tease.."

  Those words made her mad enough to leave promptly, the door swinging behind her. She took off running towards her locker, the safest way to go. She looked at her watch. Five minutes until the last bell would ring. She could make it if she didn't trip as usual and if no one got in her way..

  So naturally she had to trip on the shoelaces of her tacky saddle shoes.

  Lizzie groaned, looking up at the crowd heading towards her from the direction she had just come from. Looking like he had just blow-dried his hair, making the fluorescent lights reflect in the bouncing blonde fluff, the crowd cleared to reveal Tristan, the exact reason why she was so late.

  Lizzie pushed herself up, glowering and she took off on a sprint once more.

  "Hey!" Someone shouted behind her. She didn't turn around, just kept running. The person caught up to her, his long legs much faster than her own pair. "Here."

  She turned to face him. He wasn't all that bad, he was grinning and his shirt was barely tucked in, his tie and blazer nowhere to be seen and his shoes barely tied. 

  "You know, running in the halls and peeking in on the boys' locker rooms are both felonies here at Chilton, Magdalene. One more offense and you'll have a detention." He said, flashing her a pretty-boy grin and a yellow slip.

  "Gee, thanks, Tristan." Lizzie muttered as she took off running again.

  "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" The boy called after her.

  "You're late, Ms. Larabee. Oh, I see you have a yellow slip. Wow! Three offenses in ten minutes. Won't your cousin be proud?" The history teacher drawled, adding TARDY to Lizzie's list of offenses.

  Lizzie slammed into the nearest empty seat and opened her history book to the page written on the board. 

  "To determine who began the War of the Roses is like asking how Henry the VIII managed to use the Bible against the Pope.."

  A few people chuckled and Lizzie glared, not taking notes. Tristan DuGrey was going to pay.

  Why were her rhyming skills only sharpened when she was upset?

  Rory battled with herself. She had to do the right thing for Lizzie. She would have to keep those two apart. Paris glared at her over the table.

  "Are you done?" Paris demanded.

  Rory woke up from her trance and nodded, sliding the sheet across the table.

  "Are you still dwelling on the whole Tristan/Lizzie possibility?" Paris asked wearily, rolling her eyes and handing Rory's article to some random newspaper minion.

  "Urgh.. That Tristan DuGrey got me a detention on my first day!" Someone grumbled, slamming into a seat in front of them.

  Paris shot Rory a knowing look. "Tell us all about it, Lizzie."

  "See, first, he made me late because, he well, distracted me from getting my history book. I had some time to get across school and ended up going into the boys' locker room. Not only that, but I did some running to get to class, getting two offenses from some stupid Don Juan hall monitor and then I was late for History, and now I have a detention!" Lizzie pouted, slouching in her seat with her arms crossed.

  "I don't want you hanging out with him, Lizzie." Rory said finally. "He's evil."

  "Like I don't know that!" Lizzie exclaimed. "Geez, Rory, you'd think you'd have some more faith in me!"

  Rory actually laughed. "Good, you have taste."

  Lizzie snorted as she got her stuff. "More like delayed common sense. I'm going to go eat lunch."

  Lizzie groaned when she saw the disgusting, steaming portion of red beans that had been plopped onto her plate. She rolled her eyes, grabbing a soda for a quick caffeine fix.

  "Hey, Coffee Bean! Over here!" Tristan motioned for her to come over to his table. Lizzie was tempted for a moment, and hesitated, especially when she saw four boys from the boys' locker room (one of which had gotten her a detention). 

  But she headed over anyways, with a confident smile on her face. She put her tray down on the end of the table, picked up her plate, and turned it over in his lap.

  She wasn't really hungry anyways. "That's for the detention, you demented, rumor-spreading jerk."

  She picked up her tray again, and the boys at the table had burst out laughing as she walked away, swinging her hips. The 'hall monitor' hadn't bothered to give her a detention and the teachers hadn't been paying attention.

  "What is your problem, Coffee Bean?" He shouted after her. She turned around sharply.

  "Don't call me that!"

  Tristan stumbled into the Franklin's office quickly before his next class.

  "Tristan, what is that on your pants?" Rory asked wearily.

  "_That_ is the work of one wonderful Lizzie Larabee." Tristan snapped. "Rory, I'm not trying to hurt her, so please get that idea out of her head."

  "Shut up, Tristan." Paris defended immediately. "Because of you, she got a detention. Ask Sean."

  "What's for lunch today?" Rory asked Paris innocently.

  Tristan's eyes narrowed. "Steaming hot red beans."

  Paris and Rory's eyes zoomed in on the stains on Tristan's thighs and burst out laughing.

  Tristan grinned uncomfortably. "I called her over to my table, she put down her tray, picked up her plate and turned it over above my lap."

  They kept laughing, and Tristan stormed out of the Franklin's office on a search to get a detention.

  "Magda, Magda, wished I'd had her, from the boys' room you hear her patter.." Tristan chanted softly in Lizzie's ear, and she nearly whipped around to face him angrily. "Magda, Magda, hear her chatter, and the beans plop with a splatter.."

  "What are _you_ doing in detention, oh angelic one?" Lizzie drawled, standing up and moving to another seat. He followed her, sitting down behind her again.

  "Stalking you. It's simple. I follow you around, call you, e-mail you, suddenly pop up everywhere, all day, every day." 

  Lizzie groaned. What a beautiful first day this was turning out to be.

  Lizzie stomped out of Chilton to a waiting Lorelei and Rory, leaning on the front of the car. Rory presented her with a Grande frappucino and smiled weakly.

  "Come on, sister friend. You need to tell us about the day." Lorelei chirped. "On to Luke's."

  Lizzie sighed, throwing her bag into the back. "It all started with our little get-to-know-me dinner the other night. And an annoying spoiled boy named Tristan."


End file.
